''John Bull'' is a historic British-built

railroad Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...

steam locomotive that operated in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

. It was operated for the first time on September 15, 1831, and became the oldest operable steam locomotive in the world when the

Smithsonian Institution The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums and education and research centers, the largest such complex in the world, created by the U.S. government "for the increase and diffusion of knowledge". Founded ...

ran it under its own steam in 1981.Klein and Bell, pp 280–1. Built by

Robert Stephenson and Company Robert Stephenson and Company was a locomotive manufacturing company founded in 1823 in Forth Street, Newcastle upon Tyne in England. It was the first company in the world created specifically to build railway engines. Famous early locomoti ...

, it was initially purchased by and operated for the

Camden and Amboy Railroad The United New Jersey Railroad and Canal Company (UNJ&CC) was a railroad company which began as the important Camden & Amboy Railroad (C&A), whose 1830 lineage began as one of the eight or ten earliest permanent North AmericanList of Earliest Am ...

, the first railroad in

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

, which gave it the number 1 and its first name, "''Stevens''". (

Robert L. Stevens Colonel Robert Livingston Stevens (October 18, 1787 – April 20, 1856) was an American inventor and steamship builder who served as president of the Camden and Amboy Railroad in the 1830s and 1840s. Early life Stevens was born in Hoboken, New ...

was president of the Camden and Amboy Railroad at the time.) The C&A used it heavily from 1833 until 1866, when it was removed from active service and placed in storage. After the C&A's assets were acquired by the Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR) in 1871, the PRR refurbished and operated the locomotive a few times for public displays: it was fired up for the

Centennial Exposition The Centennial International Exhibition of 1876, the first official World's Fair to be held in the United States, was held in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, from May 10 to November 10, 1876, to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the signing of the ...

in 1876 and again for the National Railway Appliance Exhibition in 1883. In 1884 it was purchased by the

as the museum's first major industrial exhibit. In 1939 the employees of the PRR's Altoona,

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

workshops built an operable replica of the locomotive for further exhibition duties, as the Smithsonian wanted to keep the original locomotive in a more controlled environment. After being on static display for 42 years, the Smithsonian commemorated the locomotive's 150th birthday in 1981 by firing it up; it was then the world's oldest surviving operable steam locomotive. , the original ''John Bull'' is on static display in the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History in

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

, and the replica is preserved at the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania in

Strasburg, Pennsylvania Strasburg is a borough in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. It developed as a linear village stretching about along the Great Conestoga Road, later known as the Strasburg Road.Susan M. Zacher, NRHP Nomination Form Strasburg/ref> The population ...

Construction and initial use

John Bull and train, as drawn by Isaac Dripps in 1887

The ''John Bull'' was built in

Newcastle Newcastle usually refers to: *Newcastle upon Tyne, a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England *Newcastle-under-Lyme, a town in Staffordshire, England *Newcastle, New South Wales, a metropolitan area in Australia, named after Newcastle ...

, England, by

for the

(C&A), the first railroad built in New Jersey. It was dismantled and then shipped across the

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe ...

in crates aboard the ''Allegheny''. C&A engineer Isaac Dripps reconstructed the locomotive to the best of his ability (the shipment did not include any drawings or instructions to assemble the locomotive) and ran it for the first time in September 1831.Carter, p 140. On November 12, 1831, Robert Stevens (then president of the C&A) repaid some political debts by inviting several members of the

legislature and some local dignitaries, including

Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader who ...

's nephew

Prince Murat Prince Murat is a Nobility of the First French Empire, French princely title that traces its origin back to 1804, when Emperor Napoleon granted the rank of Nobility of the First French Empire#Princes, ''prince français'' to his brother-in-law Joa ...

, for rides behind the newly delivered locomotive over a short test track. The prince's wife,

Catherine Willis Gray Catherine Daingerfield Willis Gray Murat (August 17, 1803 – August 6, 1867) was an American socialite and preservationist. In 1858, she was appointed the first vice regent for Florida by the Mount Vernon Ladies' Association. Together with El ...

, made a point of hurrying onto the train so she could be declared the first woman to ride a steam-powered train in America, though unknown to her, men and women had already ridden behind the steam powered maiden runs on the

Baltimore and Ohio The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad was the first common carrier railroad and the oldest railroad in the United States, with its first section opening in 1830. Merchants from Baltimore, which had benefited to some extent from the construction of ...

, South Carolina Railroad, and the Mohawk and Hudson by this point in 1831.Wilson, p 225. Until the railroad was completed, the locomotive was placed in storage; horse-drawn cars served the construction efforts until 1833. The C&A applied both numbers and names to their first locomotives, giving this engine the number 1 and officially naming it ''Stevens'' after Robert L. Stevens.Whittemore, p 30. However, through regular use of the engine, crews began calling it ''the old John Bull'', a reference to the cartoon personification of England,

John Bull John Bull is a national personification of the United Kingdom in general and England in particular, especially in political cartoons and similar graphic works. He is usually depicted as a stout, middle-aged, country-dwelling, jolly and matter- ...

. Eventually the informal name was shortened to ''John Bull'' and this name was so much more widely used that ''Stevens'' fell out of use. In September 1836 the ''John Bull'' and two coaches were shipped by canal to

Harrisburg Harrisburg is the capital city of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Dauphin County. With a population of 50,135 as of the 2021 census, Harrisburg is the 9th largest city and 15th largest municipality in Pe ...

, and became the first locomotive to operate there.Wilson, p 54.

Mechanical modifications and early exhibitions

Stephenson built the locomotive originally as an 0-4-0. Power was transmitted to the driving axles from pistons that were mounted under the boiler between the two front wheels and in front of the front axle. The main rods of the inside cylinders were connected to a rear crank axle, with a connecting rod between the two axles providing power to the front axle. Due to poorer quality track than was the norm in its native England, the locomotive tended to derail, so the C&A's engineers added a leading truck to help guide the engine into curves. The leading truck's mechanism necessitated the removal of the coupling rod between the two main axles, leaving only the rear axle powered. Effectively, the ''John Bull'' became a

2-4-0 Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, represents the wheel arrangement of two leading wheels on one axle, four powered and coupled driving wheels on two axles and no trailing wheels. The notation 2-4-0T indi ...

. Later, the C&A also added a

pilot An aircraft pilot or aviator is a person who controls the flight of an aircraft by operating its directional flight controls. Some other aircrew members, such as navigators or flight engineers, are also considered aviators, because they a ...

("cowcatcher") to the lead truck.Klein and Bell, pp 283–287. The cowcatcher is an angled assembly designed to deflect animals and debris off of the railroad track in front of the locomotive. To protect the locomotive's crew from the weather, the C&A added a cab to the locomotive, and C&A workshop crews added safety features such as a

bell A bell is a directly struck idiophone percussion instrument. Most bells have the shape of a hollow cup that when struck vibrates in a single strong strike tone, with its sides forming an efficient resonator. The strike may be made by an inte ...

and

headlight A headlamp is a lamp attached to the front of a vehicle to illuminate the road ahead. Headlamps are also often called headlights, but in the most precise usage, ''headlamp'' is the term for the device itself and ''headlight'' is the term for ...

. After several years serving as a switching engine and stationary

boiler A boiler is a closed vessel in which fluid (generally water) is heated. The fluid does not necessarily boil. The heated or vaporized fluid exits the boiler for use in various processes or heating applications, including water heating, centr ...

, the ''John Bull'' was retired in 1866 and stored in

Bordentown, New Jersey Bordentown is a city in Burlington County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the city's population was 3,924.pump engine and as the power for a sawmill.White, pp 32–34. The C&A was soon absorbed into the

United New Jersey Railroad and Canal Company The United New Jersey Railroad and Canal Company (UNJ&CC) was a railroad company which began as the important Camden & Amboy Railroad (C&A), whose 1830 lineage began as one of the eight or ten earliest permanent North AmericanList of Earliest Am ...

(1869), which, in turn, was merged into the Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR) in 1871. The PRR saw the potential publicity to be gained by exhibiting such an old engine, showing it at the 1876

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, largest city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the List of United States cities by population, sixth-largest city i ...

; PRR workshop staff then retrofitted the engine to look more as it originally had. The wide funnel was replaced with a straight metal tube and the cab walls and roof were removed. The PRR then exhibited the engine in 1883 at the ''National Railway Appliance Exhibition'' in

Chicago, Illinois (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

. In 1885, the

accepted the donation of the ''John Bull'' from the PRR as the Institution's first large engineering artifact.

Smithsonian Institution and locomotive restoration

At the exhibition in 1883, the Pennsylvania Railroad ended up resolving two problems at once. In the Smithsonian Institution, the railroad was able to find a home for the historic locomotive, as well as a suitable new employer for a young civil engineer named

J. Elfreth Watkins J. Elfreth Watkins Sr. John Elfreth Watkins Sr. (1852–1903) was Curator of Mechanical Technology at the United States National Museum (Smithsonian Institution). He received his education at Lafayette College, graduating in 1871, and worked first ...

. Watkins had been involved in an accident on the railroad in

a few years before the exhibition. He had lost a leg in the accident, so he was no longer suited to the physical demands of railroad work, although the railroad did employ him as a clerk for a while after his accident. The PRR employed his engineering experience as an expert curator for the Smithsonian's new Arts and Industries Building, which was opened in 1880. The locomotive's first public exhibition at the Smithsonian occurred on December 22, 1884, where it was displayed in the East Hall of the Arts and Industries building.White, p 39. John Bull at the Columbian Exposition-2

The locomotive remained on display in this location for nearly 80 years, but it was transported for display outside the museum on certain rare occasions. The most significant display in this time occurred in 1893 when the locomotive traveled to

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

for the

World's Columbian Exposition The World's Columbian Exposition (also known as the Chicago World's Fair) was a world's fair held in Chicago in 1893 to celebrate the 400th anniversary of Christopher Columbus's arrival in the New World in 1492. The centerpiece of the Fair, hel ...

. The Pennsylvania Railroad, like many other railroads of the time, put on grand displays of their progress; the PRR arranged for the locomotive and a couple of coaches to be delivered to the railroad's Jersey City,

, workshops where it would undergo a partial restoration to operating condition. The PRR was planning an event worthy of the locomotive's significance to American railroad history — the railroad actually planned to operate the locomotive for the entire distance between New Jersey and Chicago. The restoration was supervised by the PRR's chief mechanical officer, Theodore N. Ely. Ely was confident enough in its 50-mile (80.5 km) test run to

Perth Amboy Perth Amboy is a city in Middlesex County, New Jersey. Perth Amboy is part of the New York metropolitan area. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the city's population was 55,436. Perth Amboy has a Hispanic majority population. In the 2010 census, th ...

(which took two hours and fifteen minutes), that the

governors A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

of all the states that the locomotive was to pass through and the then

President of the United States The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president directs the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States ...

Grover Cleveland Stephen Grover Cleveland (March 18, 1837June 24, 1908) was an American lawyer and politician who served as the 22nd and 24th president of the United States from 1885 to 1889 and from 1893 to 1897. Cleveland is the only president in American ...

, were invited to ride behind the engine on its first leg toward Chicago. The ''John Bull'' was to pull a few passenger cars in a train that would carry dignitaries and representatives of the press. The train traveled to

, in the charge of one locomotive crew. From Philadelphia, local engineers (train drivers) were employed to ride on the locomotive's footplate as pilots to advise the operators for the trip over the local engineers' territories for the rest of the journey to Chicago. Traveling at , the train departed from the Pennsylvania Railroad's Jersey City station at 10:16 a.m. on April 17 and reached Chicago on April 22. The locomotive operated during the exhibition giving rides to the exhibition's attendees, and then the train left Chicago on December 6 for the return trip to Washington. The locomotive arrived back in Washington on December 13. In 1927 the ''John Bull'' again traveled outside the museum. The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad was celebrating its centenary that year in its Fair of the Iron Horse in

Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...

. Since the locomotive's original tender (fuel and water car) had deteriorated beyond repair and was dismantled in 1910, the PRR built a replica of the tender at its Altoona,

, workshops. The locomotive was also refurbished in Altoona for operation during the fair.White, p 45. This fair was the last steam up for the locomotive until 1980.

(Mostly) static display

After the locomotive returned to the Smithsonian, it remained on static display. In 1930 the museum commissioned the Altoona Works to build a second replica of the locomotive's tender for display with the locomotive in the museum. This replica tender integrated some of the fittings of the original that the museum had retained when it had been dismantled twenty years earlier. The Smithsonian recognized the locomotive's age in 1931, but, since the museum didn't have the funds to refurbish the locomotive for full operation again, it was decided to run the locomotive in place (with the driving wheels lifted off the rails using jacks) with compressed air. The museum borrowed an 1836 coach from the Pennsylvania Railroad to display on the track behind the newly rebuilt tender, and the locomotive's 100th birthday was officially celebrated on November 12, 1931. The locomotive's semi-operation was broadcast over the

CBS radio network CBS News Radio, formerly known as CBS Radio News and historically known as the CBS Radio Network, is a radio network that provides news to more than 1,000 radio stations throughout the United States. The network is owned by Paramount Global. ...

with Stanley Bell narrating the ceremonies for the radio audience. The PRR again borrowed the locomotive and rebuilt tender from 1933 to 1934 for the

Century of Progress A Century of Progress International Exposition, also known as the Chicago World's Fair, was a world's fair held in the city of Chicago, Illinois, United States, from 1933 to 1934. The fair, registered under the Bureau International des Expositi ...

exhibition in Chicago. Unlike its earlier round-trip to Chicago under its own steam, the engine was hauled and displayed as a static exhibit. During the exhibit the Altoona Works built a operable replica, which was operated in 1940 at the New York World's Fair, while the original locomotive returned to the Smithsonian.White, p 46. The John Bull was displayed outside the museum one more time in 1939 at the New York World's Fair, but the museum's curators decided that the locomotive was becoming too fragile for repeated outside exhibits. It was then placed in somewhat permanent display back in the East Hall where it remained for the next 25 years. In 1964 the locomotive was moved to its current home, the National Museum of American History, then called the Museum of History and Technology. The ''John Bull'' had remained on static display for another 15 years, but the locomotive's significance as one of the oldest in existence, or its use on the first railroad in New Jersey, was not very plainly noted in the display's literature. As 1981 and the locomotive's 150th birthday approached, the Smithsonian started discussions on how best to commemorate the John Bull's age and significance. There was very little question that special publications and exhibits would be prepared, but museum officials were left with the thought that the exhibit could still be so much more than that.White, pp 46–48 Many superficial inspections were performed on the locomotive in 1980 and it was found to be in relatively sound mechanical condition. There wasn't a significant amount of deterioration noted in these early inspections, and when the wheels were jacked off the rails, as they had been 50 years earlier, the axles were found to be freely operable. One morning in January 1980, before the museum opened to the public, museum officials used compressed air to power the cylinders and move the wheels through the connecting rods for the first time since its last semi-operation. After the compressed air blew some dirt and debris out of the locomotive's exhaust stack, it was soon running smoothly. The running gear seemed to be in good order, but it was still not known whether the boiler could still handle the pressure of steam and a live fire again. The museum asked the Hartford Steam Boiler Inspection and Insurance Company to inspect the locomotive's boiler for operation. The inspections were conducted after hours at the museum (from 6:30 p.m. to 4:00 a.m.) over three days and included

electromagnet An electromagnet is a type of magnet in which the magnetic field is produced by an electric current. Electromagnets usually consist of wire wound into a coil. A current through the wire creates a magnetic field which is concentrated in ...

ic,

ultrasonic Ultrasound is sound waves with frequencies higher than the upper audible limit of human hearing. Ultrasound is not different from "normal" (audible) sound in its physical properties, except that humans cannot hear it. This limit varies fr ...

, and

radiographic Radiography is an imaging technique using X-rays, gamma rays, or similar ionizing radiation and non-ionizing radiation to view the internal form of an object. Applications of radiography include medical radiography ("diagnostic" and "therapeut ...

tests. The tests did reveal a few flaws, but it was projected that the engine could operate at a reduced boiler pressure of 50 psi (340 kPa); as delivered to the Camden & Amboy, the boiler was rated for . The Smithsonian's staff, after a few further hydrostatic tests, were confident that the locomotive could again operate under its own power. The items that needed repair were serviced, and on October 14, 1980, the locomotive was successfully field-tested on the Warrenton Branch Line in Fauquier County between Calverton and Casanova, Virginia. The site was selected because at the time only one freight train per week used the branch line. On September 15, 1981, the locomotive operated under steam on a few miles of branch line near the

Potomac River The Potomac River () drains the Mid-Atlantic United States, flowing from the Potomac Highlands into Chesapeake Bay. It is long,U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map. Retrieved Augu ...

within

With this exhibition, the locomotive became the oldest operable steam locomotive (and oldest self-propelled

vehicle A vehicle (from la, vehiculum) is a machine that transports people or cargo. Vehicles include wagons, bicycles, motor vehicles (motorcycles, cars, trucks, buses, mobility scooters for disabled people), railed vehicles (trains, trams), ...

) in the world. , the original ''John Bull'' was on static display in the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History and the replica was preserved at the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania.

Timeline

* June 18, 1831: The ''John Bull'' is built by Stephenson and Company in Britain.White, p 22. * July 14, 1831: The ''John Bull'' departs

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a populat ...

aboard the ship ''Allegheny'' bound for

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

. * September 4, 1831: The ''John Bull'' arrives in Philadelphia. * September 15, 1831: The ''John Bull'' makes its first runs in New Jersey under its own power. * November 12, 1831: Robert Stevens hosts a group of New Jersey politicians on a series of trial runs pulled by the ''John Bull''. * 1833: The ''John Bull'' is one of a few locomotives operating on the newly completed

. * 1866: The ''John Bull'' is retired from regular service. * 1876: The ''John Bull'' is displayed at the United States

in Philadelphia. * 1883: The Pennsylvania Railroad displays ''John Bull'' at the ''National Railway Appliance Exhibition'' in

Chicago, Illinois (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

. * 1884: The Smithsonian Institution acquires the ''John Bull'' from the Pennsylvania Railroad * 1893: The ''John Bull'' operates at the

in Chicago. * 1910: The original tender, now deteriorated beyond repair, is dismantled by Smithsonian staff. Usable fittings from the tender are placed in storage. * 1927: The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad borrows the ''John Bull'' to operate at the ''Fair of the Iron Horse'' in

Baltimore, Maryland Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

. * 1930: A replica tender is commissioned by the Smithsonian and built by the Pennsylvania Railroad using the fittings previously salvaged from the original tender; the new tender is displayed with the locomotive at the museum. * November 12, 1931: The Smithsonian celebrates the locomotive's 100th "birthday," using compressed air to operate the stationary engine (stabilized on jacks) within the museum's exhibit hall. * 1933–1934: The Pennsylvania Railroad borrows the ''John Bull'' to display it at the

Exhibition in Chicago. * 1939: The original ''John Bull'' is displayed in the opening of the New York World's Fair. * 1940: A replica of the ''John Bull'', built by engineers at the Pennsylvania Railroad's Juniata Shops in

Altoona, Pennsylvania Altoona is a city in Blair County, Pennsylvania. It is the principal city of the Altoona Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA). The population was 43,963 at the time of the 2020 Census, making it the eighteenth most populous city in Pennsylvania. T ...

, is displayed at the New York World's Fair, and the original is returned to the Smithsonian. * October 14, 1980: The ''John Bull'' is restored to operating condition, and tested on the Warrenton Branch Line in Fauquier County, Virginia. * September 15, 1981: The ''John Bull'' operates in Washington, D.C., on the 150th anniversary of its first use, becoming the oldest operable steam locomotive (and oldest self-propelled vehicle) in the world. * 1985: The ''John Bull'' is carried aboard an airplane for an exhibition in

Dallas, Texas Dallas () is the third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 million people. It is the largest city in and seat of Dallas County ...

, making it the oldest locomotive in the world to travel by air.

Notes

References

* * * * * * * Railfan & Railroad January (1982)

External links

Video of the 1981 steaming of ''John Bull''
{{Featured article Individual locomotives of the United States 0-4-0 locomotives 2-4-0 locomotives Early steam locomotives Artifacts in the collection of the Smithsonian Institution 1831 works Pennsylvania Railroad locomotives Preserved steam locomotives of Great Britain Unique locomotives Standard gauge locomotives of the United States Preserved steam locomotives of Washington, D.C. Preserved steam locomotives of Pennsylvania